Introduction

On this day in 1962, Congress votes in favor of a bill that preserves former President Teddy Roosevelt’s birthplace and former home in Manhattan, as well as an estate called Sagamore Hill where he lived from 1885 until his death.

These were not the first sites preserved in honor of the late president. The National Park Service had already placed two of Roosevelt’s ranching and hunting properties on the preservation list: the Maltese Cross Cabin, in Medora, North Dakota, and the Elkhorn Ranch on the Little Missouri River in the Theodore Roosevelt National Memorial Park. According to the Congressional Record, Roosevelt lived and/or administered these properties between 1884 and 1893 before becoming president in 1901. Another site along the Potomac River was designated Theodore Roosevelt Island in honor of the late president’s dedication to conservation.

The National Park Service also owns and maintains the birthplaces of George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, John Quincy Adams, Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, Ulysses S. Grant and Franklin D. Roosevelt. Many other presidential birthplaces and residences are maintained by private historical associations.